Jack White wrote and demoed his new solo album on his teenage-era four track recording machine in a rented Nashville apartment.
Apparently this is so significant to our understanding and appreciation of his new music that every reviewer feels a need to mention it. Or at least the four or so I’ve read.
I understand the setting of how some songs are created is of interest and is worth mentioning if it’s exotic or unusual. In this case I’m just not seeing it. Famous musician famous for lo-fi methods writes and demos in a spartan lo-fi way doesn’t seem very noteworthy.
Have you read any professionally published reviews that doesn’t mention that Jack White wrote and demoed his new solo album on his teenage-era four track recording machine in a rented Nashville apartment?
dai says
You are bloating your blog post by mentioning it 😉
LOUDspeaker says
I’m in on the “joke”; hence why the last sentence repeats the first sentence in its laboriously informative entirety.
Sewer Robot says
It’s not so much bloating the word count as a tendency to regurgitate content from press releases, which is pretty common and tends to result in samey reviews..
Gatz says
Several years ago I read a piece online about what was on Bruce Springsteen’s iPod, part of a regular series it seemed. One of the tracks was Thea Gilmore’s cover of I Dreamed I saw St Augustine from a magazine cover mount collection of Dylan songs.
I’m not a big Springsteen fan, but I know that Thea is and thought she would get a kick out of this, so I posted a link on the now-defunct Inverigo fan-board. Pretty much every article I read about Thea for the next couple of years started, ‘She’s on Bruce Springsteen’s iPod …’ Which I can only assume meant the fact found its way into her press release and was leapt on by every journalist who was issued with it.
LOUDspeaker says
Reminds me of Rush making a throwaway joke about loving soup as they have their pre-show meal on the R30 or the Rush in Rio DVD extra doc. Many years later they’re constantly being asked in interviews about their soup fetish. They complained to the interviewer (Class Rock?) that it was just an aside and was not a defining characteristic of their life. They like soup, they eat it, but that’s about as far as it goes.
Ahh_Bisto says
Soup divisions…in the high school halls, in the shopping malls
ruff-diamond says
Oh I say, well played!
Blue Boy says
Similarly, Paul Brady must get really sick of every article written about him describing himself as one of Bob Dylan’s favourite singer songwriters because Bob once mentioned he rated him.
Colin H says
It sounds like a total non-story to me but, to be a Devil’s advocate, having written a few press sheets for people myself, you’re always looking for a line that you *know* will help get column inches or a headline. I made one exhuberantly extravagent claim about an artist’s greatness in one such UK press sheet once (effectively compiling into one gently OTT PR line what had already been written about him in various Irish newspapers) and recall smiling when I saw people huffing and puffing on web forums about this seemingly outrageous puffery and how they (the po-faced people commenting) would never have written such stuff themselves. They seemed unaware that they were spending a great deal of time, on the back of denouncing his press material, talking about this musician and his new release. And that’s what the purpose of such content is.
So whoever wrote the guff about Jack White’s tape recorder will be grinning from ear to ear that not only does every review mention it but that web forums are ablaze with people talking about people talking about it! It’s had its effect because I, for instance, had no idea Jack White had a new record out. Now I do. And in a market saturated by releases, that’s a result for the PR person.
Colin H says
Possibly related to the OP’s peeve… my pet peeve with things that are ALWAYS mentioned in reviews is in the context of solo artists with stupid aliases. The purpose of an alias, like an acronym, is that it’s meant to be used INSTEAD of something else. When a music artist uses one it ends up being used AS WELL as their name. Reviews for Joan As Policewoman invariably contain the phrase ‘Joan Wasser (AKA Joan As Policewoman)…’ I blame Black (AKA Colin Verncombe, as the reviews always told us) for this daft plague. I have an acquaintance who manages an individual called Jealous Of The Birds (really), who’s just got a label deal, so we can all expect to be reading reviews that start: ‘Dierdre Shufflebottom (AKA Jealous Of The Birds)…’
retropath2 says
I’d use a pseudonym if I were called Deidre Shufflebottom. Says Seuras Og (AKA retropath2)
Moose the Mooche says
And D-Shake-Ass was born.
Sniffity says
Stupid aliases and arcane trivia are oft tossed into reviews less to educate the reader than for the reviewer to impress you with his/her well of trivia knowledge – a fellow I know who writes movie reviews does this all the time, but I haven’t pulled him up on it because I like being the “plus one” that sees free movies with him.
fentonsteve says
I don’t envy the PR who has to translate “it sounds just the the last one, but more muffled” into something which jumps out of the page.
Ahh_Bisto says
I like some of his music particularly when he’s making his weird versions of rock but I find his proselyting about recording with analogue equipment and creating “authentic sounds” in his music wearisome. It just makes we want to listen to Autechre on Spotify on my phone.
Moose the Mooche says
He had a four track machine when he was a teenager? Spoilt brat. I’m glad he’s bald.
Moose the Mooche says
This, from 2015, is rather cruel but made me smile.
http://www.laweekly.com/music/unpopular-opinion-jack-white-is-the-worst-thing-that-ever-happened-to-rock-5814364
Tiggerlion says
I like a bit of background info. For example, Melanie De Biasio, in a deep dark funk, holed herself in a Spartan hotel room with a microphone and a computer. The results were later worked up into Lilies. There is an intimacy and an almost visceral exposure of the heart in that album. Mind you, many of those hotel recordings were used as the basis of the recordings that finally made the album. The background to the album helps me appreciate it more.
Arthur Cowslip says
…i quite like jack white…
Junior Wells says
Not really related but it sprung to mind .There was a tonight show down here with a compere called Steve Vizard. He was interviewing John Thaw of Inspector Morse fame. Reading from his crib sheet Vizard comments , so you’re really into crosswords ?
Looking aghast Thaw says, no I’m not – Morse is!
Cross to compere dying on camera, no doubt researcher to die many deaths afterwards.
Colin H says
Cross words exchanged, certainly.
Junior Wells says
Researcher clueless
Moose the Mooche says
Second question: “Do you still drive around in a Ford Cortina telling people to Shaaaat eeeet?”
The Good Doctor says
I looked up the definition of ‘ennui’ in a dictionary and it said “Jack White has a new solo album out”. Spoiled, retrograde dullard of the highest order. He is the musical equivalent of 25 year old lads with beards musing over craft ale in your local boozer or that hipster-style Barbers that has just opened in your town centre where there used to be a branch of Maplin. The White Stripes were massively over-rated anyway and frankly I never want to hear whatever musically bereft shite he’s recorded on his Bush mono tape recorder through whatever vintage kit is all the rage this year. All texture – no tunes. And he doesn’t half churn them out – “nay quality control” as a very wise man once said.
Moose the Mooche says
I think you’d like the LA weekly piece I linked to above.
LOUDspeaker says
‘And he doesn’t half churn them out’
To be fair I think it was mentioned that it’s his first solo album in four years; although who knows what producing, guesting and collaborating he’s been doing in that time.
For me it’s his voice that gets tiring. After a point he seems very limited as a performer and as a writer. I’ve get one album (White Blood Cells from 2001) and about six other White Stripes songs on my iPod with a low star rating meaning they rarely come up on shuffle. I don’t want to hear anything else outside of that.
Ahh_Bisto says
I think it’s his Third Man Recording Booth that gets on my wick the most. “Ooh I sound like a 1940s singer”. Whoopie f*cking do.
fentonsteve says
Speaking as a low-scale recording/microphone nerd (my pal who works for Sound On Sound has the full-blown disease), there are two reasons to choose a microphone – practical and artistic.
Some mics work within limited ranges. You wouldn’t put a delicate ribbon mic on a kick drum, for instance.
The best mics (e.g. Soundfields) sound almost perfect and have no aural character. All the others have varying amounts of crapness/distortion. Why do Billie Holliday records sound like they do? Because they were recorded with Neumann ribbon mics.
Heritage-soundalike acts like the Dap-Kings don’t have any use for modern mics.
What really baffles me is Neil Young releasing his direct-to-shellac recording in hi-res.
Ahh_Bisto says
I have no problem with the idea of merging old technology with new technology to create something different nor do I have a problem with acts who specialise in recreating a vintage sound for modern audiences as a way of introducing them to the pleasures of music from a bygone era. It’s the idea that there is something aesthetically better in White’s music by virtue of his using old recording equipment. As Dr.V says there is something soulless and ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ about much of White’s solo music that no amount of classic retro-fitting disguises; if anything it exposes the shallow stylising of his arrangements and song-writing. He talks the talk but rarely walks the walk. To me someone like J D McPherson is working a similar retro vein and doing it much better without all the accompanying worthiness.
DogFacedBoy says
@Dr_Volume. Well that’s just nit picking, isn’t it?
If he wants to make his records a certain way and feels better if he uses basic old tools then just let him. The fact lazy journo scum copy n paste from press releases should be a black Mark against them.
Yes I have bought it. On vinyl as well. No beard as yet
retropath2 says
Whilst I agree with all you say about White, the 2 records he did with the Raconteurs aren’t bad at all, for which I credit more Brendan Benson.
DogFacedBoy says
Oh yes the mecurial talents of Brendan Benson to produce dull indie sludge. We shouldn’t forget those great records he has made
Ahh_Bisto says
Dull indie sludge? Cold Hands (Warm Heart)?
DogFacedBoy says
Yup a beige cardigan in song form
fatima Xberg says
Mr. Hewerdine nailed the PR problem a couple of years ago on his (highly recommended) blog:
THE FENLAND TRUMPET
LOCAL MAN MAKES DISC
(Kylie Spool – Showbiz & Traffic)
A local man has made a disc. Singer/songwriter Boo Hewerdine (47) of 23 Blyth Road, Ely has been a professional musician since he was 21. “I’ve been a professional musician since I was 21”, said Hewerdine (53). Relaxing in the staff kitchen at the Trumpet he told me more. “I thought it was time I made a disc”, he laughed. The album I’ll Email You The Title Tomorrow was recorded locally in a professional studio. “I recorded the album professionally in a local studio”, he laughed. He has high hopes for the disc and plans to tour in the area. “I shall be performing in the region”, laughed Hewerdine (47). I asked him if being a professional musician was interesting. Quick as a flash, he replied, “Yes”. I wished him all the best with the disc and with a cheery slam of the door he was gone.
Next week Kylie speaks to a local man about his struggles to open a local otter sanctuary – OTTER CHAOS.
Colin H says
Very good!
Junior Wells says
Yep that’s about right.
dai says
Word on the street is that the album is abysmal. There was a discussion about it on the radio and his fans seem to be very upset.
Tiggerlion says
Jack White saved guitar rock in the noughties. I love those White Stripes albums. He had the right sense of theatre, a love of blues mythology, a powerful crunch in the sound and a lyrical quality in his playing. The self imposed limitations, two instruments, minimal production, forced him to experiment wildly. Dutch art, Blind Willie McTell, garage stomp, fuzzy blues and shiny pop music all on the same album was quite something in 2001. The writing was on the wall when he started adding piano and marimba but, even then, there was far more quality than dross. Nevertheless, De Stijl, White Blood Cells and Elephant are up there with even the best three album run of any act, in my view.
I also enjoy all three Dead Weather’s albums, where his rollicking drums are a key feature. It seems I’m not the only one who likes The Raconteurs. There is even much to love in Karen Elson’s debut.
Sure, solo he hasn’t been up to much. I think he is at his best when he imposes ridiculous restrictions on himself: a band of just two, I won’t play guitar, just drums or I’ll be a side man. When he is allowed a full band, a nice studio and unlimited time, the results aren’t so good. The personal conflicts, beating up Jason Stollsteimer, the row with Patrick Carney, don’t look good but there is no doubting his philanthropy nor his constant promotion of female singers and musicians. His eccentricities make him him what he is. He’s hardly the biggest arsehole in the world. Speaking of which, I loved his response to Trump’s use of Seven Nation Army at his rallies. You can still buy the Icky Trump T-shirt if you wish.
In my book, he is a Colossus of the Noughties. So what if he’s going bald and his latest record is a bit rubbish. I bet most musicians would sell their soul to have a body of work half as good as his.
Leave Jack alone.
Moose the Mooche says
Colossus of the Noughties… fainter praise has never damned.
Ahh_Bisto says
I think you’ll find The Strokes have the ® for ‘Saved Guitar Rock In The Noughties’.
Neela says
But if Jack is shite (which he isn’t), then what are The Strokes? Beyond shite.
Ahh_Bisto says
Well their debut is called Is This (Sh)It.
Sewer Robot says
Ooh! Bad timing. I was just compiling a playlist of “albums I never gave a chance when they came out that I might maybe revisit, just in case” and Red Blood Cells and The Strokes’ debut are both on it…
DogFacedBoy says
First Strokes album is pretty great but title is apt cos I don’t think they had much left in the tank and ran on fumes for ages
Ahh_Bisto says
My eldest daughter (14) has discovered them recently via this track, Threat of Joy, from a couple of years ago. She absolutely loves it.
(I like how the bass player is looking more and more like Richard Kiel as the years go by)